Tag Archives: motivation

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Things in life can’t be always purple, maybe that is the whole point of being alive – things change. Sometimes you feel like you rule the world, like everything is going so smooth and there is some secret power that helps you to achieve everything, to be at the right place at the right time, to say the right words, to get the right things, but some times occur things that stagger your world and you feel like you are incapable to do anything. That could be a divorce, lost of a family member, sacking from work, or some personal distraction that influence on your everyday life. In these moments the key thing is the motivation. It is the first step that could move you one step forward and we are not talking about hoping that something will happen but about making things happen. The point is to rediscover your motivation and the fundamental makeover games will start.

First you should do is to make a recapitulation of your vision. Point is to figure out where you want to be and what is it that you want in your life. Try to visualize your dream life, envisioning details as many as possible. That way you will get a feel for what you truly desire.

– After this, try to write down your visions so you’ll make them stronger. While doing that focus on things that you really like, not on the things that you don’t like. Select a chart that works for you – map or a brainstorm cloud, to be able to process this information after writing it down.

– Make a review of you current goals; are they in a relation to your dream life? If they are not, revise them, develop them in the loving way and remember that they are effective only if they drive you toward the future you desire.

– Leaving reminders, posters or note cards around you, with you goals written down, is addition to the idea of visualization of your dreams and is essential to developing the motivation to see them through to realization.

– If people around you are making you to fell depressed, to feel incapable for doing big things or depreciate you, put aside of your life. Surround your self with positive people that care about you, motivate you, cheer you on and support you and your goals.

– Constantly remind yourself why do you want these specific goals? Visualize your dream again and again, with all the tiny details. On every ‘why’ you’ll get more ‘how’ and the things will find their way to realisation. That way you will make detailed action plan of achievable steps, and every next step will fill you up with more energy to move on!

– Mental diet is much worth than any other diet that you take in your life. Get rid of thoughts and messages that keep you down, change them with positive. Constantly “feed” yourself with thoughts that rejuvenate your spirit. Also avoid letting obstacles from your past prevent you from pursuing your new passion and purpose.

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Things in life can’t be always purple, maybe that is the whole point of being alive – things change. Sometimes you feel like you rule the world, like everything is going so smooth and there is some secret power that helps you to achieve everything, to be at the right place at the right time, to say the right words, to get the right things, but some times occur things that stagger your world and you feel like you are incapable to do anything. That could be a divorce, lost of a family member, sacking from work, or some personal distraction that influence on your everyday life. In these moments the key thing is the motivation. It is the first step that could move you one step forward and we are not talking about hoping that something will happen but about making things happen. The point is to rediscover your motivation and the fundamental makeover games will start.

First you should do is to make a recapitulation of your vision. Point is to figure out where you want to be and what is it that you want in your life. Try to visualize your dream life, envisioning details as many as possible. That way you will get a feel for what you truly desire.

– After this, try to write down your visions so you’ll make them stronger. While doing that focus on things that you really like, not on the things that you don’t like. Select a chart that works for you – map or a brainstorm cloud, to be able to process this information after writing it down.

– Make a review of you current goals; are they in a relation to your dream life? If they are not, revise them, develop them in the loving way and remember that they are effective only if they drive you toward the future you desire.

– Leaving reminders, posters or note cards around you, with you goals written down, is addition to the idea of visualization of your dreams and is essential to developing the motivation to see them through to realization.

– If people around you are making you to fell depressed, to feel incapable for doing big things or depreciate you, put aside of your life. Surround your self with positive people that care about you, motivate you, cheer you on and support you and your goals.

– Constantly remind yourself why do you want these specific goals? Visualize your dream again and again, with all the tiny details. On every ‘why’ you’ll get more ‘how’ and the things will find their way to realisation. That way you will make detailed action plan of achievable steps, and every next step will fill you up with more energy to move on!

– Mental diet is much worth than any other diet that you take in your life. Get rid of thoughts and messages that keep you down, change them with positive. Constantly “feed” yourself with thoughts that rejuvenate your spirit. Also avoid letting obstacles from your past prevent you from pursuing your new passion and purpose.

What exactly is motivation? Everyone uses it a lot and talks about it very often but let us just clear the air about motivation once so everyone knows what motivation actually is. Motivation is a fire that one feels inside which makes one do something. It makes us strive to achieve something and not falter in the process. However difficult or easy it may be, if motivation is missing, one really can’t do much.

Motivation has to be strong enough for a person to do something. Setting a goal is simple but working towards it is difficult. Goals are generally hard to achieve. There will be many times during the process of working hard that we feel like giving up; there will be times when we simply cannot carry on further. At this point, motivation plays a key role in keeping you going. Motivation is indeed the key force that makes one keep working hard despite all the difficulties.

Motivation may come from many things. It may come from inspiration – inspirational books, speeches, movies, etc. Organizing and will power are also needed. One of the main factors for motivation is pleasure. Everyone loves rewards and little gifts. The prospect of getting something nice after finishing a task is sweet and endearing. This is what helps in most cases and thus, motivation from pleasure is the most successful kind of motivation.

Examples of motivation from pleasure can be seen mainly in offices and work places. Work can get super boring at times. Many are generally forced to work even though they aren’t interested. But give them an incentive? Say, a bonus if a target is reached? See how that perks the employees up and how suddenly, out of nowhere, they show overwhelming interest in their work – all for that little bonus. Incentives are the motivating factors here and realizing what effect they have on their workers, employers use this as a strategy to create interest in their employees so that the employees work faster and better.

A stubborn child is given chocolates or things that he wants in return of studying well or topping the class in his exams. Those chocolates will motivate him to study hard and get good results because he wants that chocolate so bad. Parents are resorting to such techniques to get their children to study or do something that children aren’t interested in.

Indeed, motivation in the form of pleasure is very successful and helpful thanks to the greedy beings that we are!

MOTIVATED BY PAIN

The word ‘motivation’ is used very commonly. But does anyone even know what it actually means? A very few would give a positive response to that. Motivation is basically a driving force. It is some kind of burning desire to achieve something. It is what makes us push towards our goal. Without motivation, one cannot successfully achieve anything. That desire, that spirit to achieve it has to be there. This fire within oneself that makes one move towards the goal is called motivation.

Motivated behaviour is necessary and is seen in almost every aspect of our life. We do things in a particular way for a reason and that is what motivation is. Reading, playing, exercising, following a particular diet for eating, all are done because of a motivating factor. If the motivation to do something is not strong enough, one will stop doing it altogether. The driving force is absolutely necessary for doing things – all kinds of things.

Motivation is of different types. The driving force may vary. Actually, the driving force is of different types. One of them is pain. One could call it “learning the hard way.” You make a mistake once and that affects you so bad those effects provide motivation for you to avoid it in the future, come what may.

A classic example of this is obesity. We will not exercise or watch what we eat until all the fat accumulates and one fine day we find that our legs are finding it difficult to carry us around. When that realization dawns in, we scurry all over the place, start exercising frantically, eat properly, avoid fat-increasing foods, et cetera. Motivation due to pain is a major factor for motivation.

We are stubborn beings and do not learn until we are put through dire circumstances. Another example is watching our diet. Too much junk food can cause so many problems. But until we suffer from a disease, we will not care. Youngsters today are too arrogant. They drive vehicles as if they are the only ones driving; over confident that nothing will happen to them. Once they meet with an accident and spend a few days in the hospital, that experience will work as a motivation to drive safe for the rest of their lives.

Better safe than sorry is lost now. Learn from mistakes is in. No wonder pain is such an important motivating factor.

Most of us have read hundreds and some even thousands of books on motivation, goal setting and spiritual matters. Some of us attended a wide range of self-development courses and seminars and possibly paid for them through our necks. Many of us attended church services or lectures on spiritual matters since early childhood. Then there are those of us that were dispatched to exotic islands by their companies in an attempt to develop inner strength, resilience and people skills. You may have laboured under the misconception that these companies paid all that money because they love and respect you so much. Noble as it may have seemed to you, your company invested all that money in an attempt to “upgrade” you so you can make more money for them. Some of us have our own spiritual and motivational audio and DVD collections that sit somewhere on a shelf in our homes or offices gathering dust. I often meet individuals that proudly announce to anybody that cares to listen, that they read the Bible from cover to cover at least once a year. The point I am trying to make is that there are available today mountains of knowledge in an endless range of formats. You can for example go on the Internet and spend the rest of your life browsing information on any or all of the subject matters mentioned above. The problem today is thus not a lack of available knowledge or skills training. The knowledge, skills, know-how and guidelines are freely accessible to anyone who desires to upgrade the quality of his life. The problem is thus not availability of knowledge, but may possibly lay in actual application. I bought thousands of books over the years and boast with a massive collection of my own motivational and spiritual material. I spent the best part of my life touring new and second hand book stores searching for the one book that would provide me with that secret ingredient or formula that would magically remove my fears, anxiety and discomfort and direct me to happiness, success and spiritual fulfilment. I became like a drug addict that constantly needed a fresh “fix” to bolster my self-image and self-esteem. Every book, lecture, sermon or tape gave me a short-term boost. It would usually only last for a few days. I would then begin to feel the need for a next “fix” stir deep inside me. I discovered that I often became extremely agitated if something prevented me from visiting the drug suppliers (book stores). I knew that something was wrong and that I needed to get rid of this habit, but could not detach myself from this craving. I prayed for guidance, meditated and attempted to gain spiritual insight, with limited success. My life finally changed when I discovered the following secret. I hope that you will learn from my mistakes and also benefit from the discoveries that I made.

My parents gave me the secret at a very young age, but I wilfully ignored it because it seemed so simple and straightforward. I could not grasp or master this secret’s awesome power because the world around me kept putting massive obstacles in my path. I tried it once or twice and then gave up and joined the ruthless spirit that seem to blanket the world as we know it today. My mother told me that I needed to show an attitude of gratitude if I wanted to get anywhere in life. She said that an attitude of gratitude would smoothen my path and change adversity into success. I wasted the best part of my life hunting for a mystical complicated secret while the answer already lay incubated in my head. A principle, any principle not applied is futile and cannot influence your life in any way. It is only when you apply the principles in a sustained manner that you learn and that they will come alive and begin to work for you.

Many of us seem to think that we worked so hard and suffered so extensively for what we accumulated to date, that gratitude almost looks out of place. We feel that we paid with blood, sweat and tears for what we achieved in our short lifetime. We might feel that the words “thank you” and “appreciate” will minimise what we went through to achieve or own what we currently have. It is imperative that we once and for all grasp that we live in a universe that works on distinct, accurate and precise principles. The universe is not run in a haphazard manner. Its laws are predictable, understandable and repeatable. They never change. These laws, principles and rules have been there since the beginning of time and will remain in force forever.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: Everything, even the dust and feathers goes by law and not by chance or luck.

We cannot even begin to grasp the principle of gratitude before we understand the law of cause and effect. The law of cause and effect states that whatever we set our mind to will sooner or later materialise in our life-experience. Every action, yes even a thought, will have a mirror reaction or effect. What you sow you will reap. What goes around will come around. One of the most powerful laws in the universe is the law of cause and effect. Look around you and you will soon discover that the world today reflects the outcome of those that came before you. You are looking at the residue of the collective actions and reactions of everyone that walked the path on this plane before you. Your subconscious mind does not know the difference between good and bad or right from wrong. The moment that your mind starts dwelling on anything it sets in motion a process of materialisation. Your thoughts are magnetized and will draw in data from the historical collective consciousness that we live and operate in. Negative thoughts will draw in and merge with negative data and finally produce negative outcomes. It is foolish to think that a bad attitude and poor frame of mind will magically produce magnificent and lucrative outcomes. You cannot mix sand into food that you are preparing and then expect your guests to lick their fingers and ask for more. What you put in, you get out in life. When we add positive energy to our hopes and dreams we always get a satisfactory outcome. You will obviously not just add one teaspoon of positive energy to a task and then sit back and wait for a positive outcome. It is imperative that you sustain your flow of positive and realistic inputs. Most of us ignore this law. We live in fear and worry ourselves to a standstill. Fear, worry and stress are negative energies and can never produce productive, fruitful and pleasant outcomes.

We cannot become positive and expect positive outcomes if we lack appreciation for what we already have. It is impossible to become positive and focused when we suffer with fear of loss or failure or if we worry about the possible outcome of an event or problem. We must first master the art of appreciation before we graduate to the class where we work on positive conclusions. I am sure you have read many books or attended several lectures on goal setting where you are taught to visualise a desired outcome. You are reducing your chances of success many times when you blend positive energy with fear, doubt and worry. This is like adding sugar to the fuel tank of your vehicle. Your vehicle might move forward for a while, but will sooner or later grind to a halt. You on the other hand enhance your chances of success when you appreciate what you already have and you firmly believe that your desired outcome will materialize. Please note that you must see your project already achieved or your problem already solved to remain in the NOW. The only time that exists in the universe is the now. You cannot live in the future. You have the choice to create horror movies on the screen of your mind about a feared outcome. You then usually become the main actor in these fantasies. You can also recall things that happened to you in the past that caused you discomfort and endlessly replay these “victim movies” on the screen of your mind if you so please. It is important to remember that the future or the past are illusions that only come alive when you drag them up from the dark recesses of your sub-conscious mind. These stored images have no power of their own. These images need to parasite on your power. You are the one that frequently drags them out, dust them off and use them so that you can re-experience your painful past or perceive your fear filled future. I am sure you can see that you could become your own worst enemy.

Einstein said that the universe is friendly to our desires. What we desire, good or bad, will be attracted to us

Eric Butterworth said: the Universe that we live in is strangely and wonderfully accommodating

Most of us seem to suffer from the misconception that there is lack in the universe. We think that there is a shortfall of money, love, food or work. Most of us work from a premise that there is a scarcity of almost everything. It is virtually impossible to become and remain positive if you operate within a scarcity mindset. How can you be grateful if you work and play in this frame of mind? I know that people will kill for food or water if they are in serious short supply. Morals and values fly out of the window when there is a serious shortfall of anything important to our survival. This mode of thinking leads to a competitive mindset. We seem to think that everything is in such short supply that we need to take what we need or want from someone else. This might be a cheap way to motivate an amateur sales team, but will not lead to sustained affluence or peace of mind. Individuals who buy this defective concept are setting themselves up for war. They approach life with a “kill or get killed” attitude. They cannot enjoy life because they are always in an offensive or defensive mode. Life becomes a game where apparently only the fittest survive.

We have been taught since early childhood that the world out there is a tough place where dog eats dog. We fail to grasp that it is actually our thinking that created this perception. We will continue to play war games while we sustain these defective perceptions of lack and scarcity.

It is a spiritual and scientific fact that everything is made from the same energy source. Everything that you see around you was created from the same building blocks. Our thoughts create a certain vibration. What we focus on (good or bad) always materialises. Everything good or bad is created from the same source. The building blocks or molecular structure does not have any preferences. You can construct anything, good or bad, from it. You might grasp the unlimited supply of building material available to you when you look around you or when you study the majestic universe at night. There are still unlimited resources available to you. There is no need to think scarcity or lack with this massive volume of building material still in stock. You can build whatever your heart desires. All you need is a good attitude and enough gratitude. You are a creator in your own right and can build a majestic palace or rickety dog kennel from this material. You can, if you decide to become a master builder, create affluence, success and peace of mind. Most of us hardly ever build anything constructive. We allow others to build empires and then select to become their slaves. We feel and act like victims while they live in the lap of luxury. It is our fear or wrong perceptions that keep us enslaved. We must stop competing with each other. We must stop believing that the universal source of supply is only accessible to the blessed few. We must take back our status as master builders and reclaim our rightful place in the grand plan of the universe. It is important to understand that your goals will remain illusive dreams while you operate from a scarcity mindset.

We must also master the law of non-resistance. Non-resistance means that you simply go with the flow and hope for the best or it could indicate that you made an objective choice not to resist the reality of the now. The only time and place that you can act and build is in the now. You can create a better tomorrow, but need to do it one moment at a time. It is also important not to fight the reality of what you are currently faced with. Accept WHAT IS in the NOW and do what you can about it. It is useless and a waste of energy to attempt to do something about tomorrow or next year, in the moment. See what outcome you desire to achieve and then work on this project one moment at a time. It is futile to face thoughts that you are confronted with, of how it could or should have been. The key is unconditional acceptance. You will usually act in the now if you need do something that needs your current attention. You will for example answer your doorbell and check who is there, but it will be foolish to sit and worry yourself into a frenzy about possible creepy characters that might one day ring your doorbell. Acceptance of what is and detachment from what might, could or should have been, can change your life overnight. You are powerful in the now, but become a weakling and puppet when you go outside this powerful porthole. It is futile to moan about what happened in the past. You can for example feel offended, rejected or belittled about something that someone said or you can detach from it and focus your attention on the now. You can never get an egg back in its shell. Observe what transpired and then detach from it and return to the power zone in the now.

Many of us allow ourselves to be deformed into whimpering victims. We feel that someone has taken our money, time, love, respect or dignity. This is limited and scarcity thinking. This is the way victims spend the best part of their lives. They will tell whoever dares to lend them a hearing ear, the horrible story of their lives. They will painfully describe how life treated them unfairly and how they have been victimised. Individuals like this can spend years prodding the ashes of a fire that a long time ago stopped producing heat. Their lives grind to a halt and they stop living. It is almost as if they enjoy reveling in self-pity. They often work from a premise that their victim status provides them immunity to further participate in the game of life.

It is important to understand that everything in life has two poles. You have a good side and a bad side. You have an advantage and a disadvantage to everything. Every situation that might currently look extremely daunting also has an opportunity hidden somewhere. Victims can only see problems. Spiritually mature individuals however immediately start looking for the positive and the beneficial. Every event is like a coin. A coin always has two sides. It is your duty and privilege to turn the coin over and focus on the side that produces the rewards. Remember, the choice is yours. What you choose and focus on will become a reality. The first thing you need to realise is that the universe is not out to get you. You need to apply the law of non-resistance in any situation. Avoid thinking scarcity or loss at all cost. There is an infinite supply of everything. You might at any given moment THINK that you will never again sell anything, find a person to love or get out of the financial hole that you find yourself in. The key is to understand that there is no scarcity in the universe. The universe still has millions of the commodity or stuff that you thought is now lost forever, in stock. You might think that your life will grind to a halt if you fail to get the specific thing you currently want or need, but will soon discover that there is even a better one waiting for you. Understand that the good is there waiting for you. All you need to do is to change your mindset and to unwrap your present.

Many of the most critical and severe adversities that we face often turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Some of the best lessons we learn come disguised as adversity. It is very beneficial to immediately see if you can spot the hidden lesson when you are faced with failure, loss or discomfort. Our own negative and destructive thinking often causes our biggest disasters. It is extremely beneficial to investigate what contribution we may have made when we were faced with pain or discomfort. We cannot learn until we look at adversity in this manner. How can we spiritually grow if we are too pigheaded or egotistical to use our failures as lessons? Resistance increases the pain and doubles the agony. Accept what is and detach from the past and the future. Our seeds of tomorrow’s growth and affluence often arrive at our door packaged as adversity, problems or failures. They come to us as our teachers and tutors. You can speed up the process that will take you back to where you want to be if you accept what is. Denial stretches your resolve and discomfort to gigantic proportions. Be thankful when you are faced with adversity, my friend. It is usually a disguised lesson or turning point that wants to test your resolve.

There is a massive difference between happiness and satisfaction. Most people are now and then satisfied, but very few are ever really happy. True happiness is to be happy notwithstanding the problems or obstacles that we are faced with. You cannot become or remain happy if you are unable to accept what is. This is the main reason why happiness is so illusive and in short supply. Most of us postpone our happiness for a time in our lives when everything will be exactly the way we wish them to be. Gratitude plays a major role in accepting what we are faced with. Individuals that are still struggling to master gratitude are never happy and for that matter, never satisfied either. How can the universe give you more if you are not even able to appreciate what you currently have? We stop growing and stop striving when we are truly satisfied or happy. We stagnate and fall into a deep rut. I am sure you know the difference between a rut and the grave is about six feet. We need lessons, tests and adversity to grow and to develop spiritually. We look forward to these events once we master the art of non-resistance, detachment and living in the now. We also learn to appreciate what we have. How can we be happy in the now if we continually look at the future for our happiness? I have very bad news for those that think that happiness will one day arrive over the horizon. You will never be happy if you do not master the art of living in the now. You need to master the art of appreciation before you will taste the sweet nectar of happiness. You need to learn how to be happy with whatever you have right now, before additional doses of happiness will be dispensed for you. You need to learn to be grateful and appreciative of the current moment before more doors will be unlocked for you on your path to spiritual maturity.

There is another obstruction in your path to success and happiness. You already know about appreciation. It is now time to introduce you to the next possible barrier that could prevent you to achieve your dreams and goals. This door that you need to unlock is marked with a plaque “forgiveness”. Your inability to forgive can be compared to a heavy weight tied around your ankle. It will weigh you down and hinder your progress. You cannot move forward while you are still carrying grudges around with you. You make a very destructive decision when you decide not to forgive someone. You are in actual fact admitting that you have not mastered the lesson on offer when you retain grudges against individuals. You might be shocked when you read this because you might have been under the impression that you were the actual victim in a specific situation. Go back to the “two sides of the coin” lesson above. You will see that there is a learning experience in every adversity that you may encounter. The lesson might present you with an ideal opportunity to show your ability to manage your ego or to display your mastery in the art of detachment. There is an easy test to check if you really forgave a person. Ask yourself if you are really grateful for the lesson that this person taught you. Do not try and be smug or smart and declare that you now realise beyond any shadow of doubt that this person is an idiot and a crook. You might be right in your assumption, but should keep in mind that it is not up to you to decide what lessons this person still needs to learn. I am asking YOU to look at what YOU learnt from the event, and what you still need to master in similar situations. Only when you can look back with gratitude can you truly say that you forgave this person and detached from him. Remember, resentment is like a boomerang. It always comes back and hits you in the face.

There are no coincidences in life. People and situations appear in our lives not to punish us, but to teach us. You will be amazed when you adopt the habit to look at adversity in this way. You will stop seeing situations and people in a judgemental manner. You will develop a new type of vision that makes visible what might have been invisible for the best part of your life. A slightly different state of mind removes the blinkers that we often wear in our travels through this plane. We must sometimes become a detached observer before we are able to grasp the full picture. We need to detach from our conditioned responses before we are able to see the various lessons and tests that certain people or adverse circumstances made available to us. I know it is sometimes difficult to apply this wisdom, especially when such individuals said or did something that left gaping wounds in our hearts and minds. Spiritual growth can only take place when we forgive those that committed such deeds against us and we are still courageous enough to wish them well on their own journey through life. Resentment and grudges keep these people attached to us emotionally. They are like weights that we carry around with us. We might not see the chains that bind us, but believe me they are there and they are inhibiting our spiritual growth. We must be grateful when such individuals cross our path. They are our tutors and they come to teach us lessons. Not lessons in combat and counter attacks, but lessons in forgiveness and unconditional love. It is even more important that we learn how to forgive ourselves. How can we forgive those that caused us harm if we are unable to forgive ourselves for mistakes we made? This only becomes possible when you start living your life one moment at a time. You must learn to wipe the slate clean at the end of every day. You cannot live a spiritually mature life if you keep copies of your errors and mistakes in the short-term memory of your human computer. Forgive yourself unconditionally and move on. There is absolutely no benefit playing with yesterday’s garbage. We must understand the value of gratefulness. We cannot even begin to understand the principle of forgiveness until we mastered the art of gratefulness. We have so much that we can be grateful for. Some of us pray for blessings and things that we feel that God should take out of our life or bring back into our life. We often wait in vain for God’s answer. The universe is a place with order and laws. The people that come into our lives or the stuff that happens to us are not coincidences. They arrive either via the law of cause and effect or they come to teach us valuable lessons. I would suggest that you see whatever happened in your life in the past or that is currently happening to you, as an integral part of your journey through life. Do not fight or cry about these adversities. Observe what transpired and then detach from it. Do not allow the past to pollute the pure water of the now. You should respond to life one moment at a time with a sprit of gratitude in your heart. You cannot carry the load of your past or the histories of those that came to teach you, on your back. You must put down your past and simply continue walking, my friend. Be grateful for the education that you receive periodically. Then continue on your path and do the most productive or pleasant thing you can find at that given moment. Everything that I mentioned so far has to do with thought. It is imperative that you understand that everything starts with a single thought. Most of us spend the best years of our lives trying to repair or overcome the effects of our own thoughts or the thoughts of others that cross our path periodically.

I now know that I have been using the wrong formula for the best part of my life. It is futile to work on outcomes. It is much smarter to work on the quality of the things that we cause in our own lives and the lives of others. Our thoughts are the seeds that will grow and blossom tomorrow, next week and next year.

Most of us allow an endless uncontrolled stream of thoughts to flow through our bio-computer. We never check the quality of the thoughts that we entertain. We allow any old garbage thoughts to drift in and out of our consciousness. How can we be grateful and appreciate what we have if we allow toxic and negative thoughts to pollute our soul? You will discover that individuals that made progress along the spiritual path think a lot less than those with no or little control of their thinking. Remember what you think, you become. If you sow a massive mixture of positive and negative seeds in your mind, you will end up with a chaotic garden of life. I mentioned that the secret of success is action. Let us now take a look at the way a person acts that has gratitude and love in his heart.

A grateful person is one that loves to give. He is not a miser that tries to keep everything for himself. He understands the law of flow. He learnt that a person that only wants inflow ultimately stagnates and dies spiritually. A person with this attitude believes in lack and scarcity. He is so afraid that he might run dry or be forced to go without that he holds on to everything with an iron grip. He just cannot bring himself to give of his time, money, love and compassion. He is so afraid of possible lack that he will rather see someone die of thirst than offer such person a glass of water. When you give, you display faith in affluence and flow. When you fail to give your love, compassion and friendship you usually end up bitter and isolated. You have an unlimited resource of love, gratitude and compassion available to you. Give it away, not for the rewards that it might bring into your life, but because you know deep inside it’s the right thing to do. When you give and receive freely you become like a river. Your water supply as a river of life is unlimited. Just close your eyes for a moment and think of all the good that you can do when you approach life with this attitude of gratitude.

It is easy to combine knowledge, gratitude and action. All you need to do is to apply these attributes one moment at a time. You simplify and enrich your life when you grasp that the only time that is relevant is the now. Give each moment your best shot and watch your seeds of appreciation grow. You will still be faced with adversities (opportunities) to learn new lessons. You will have opportunities to learn everyday. We have so much to be grateful for. Some of us have people to forgive and bridges to repair. Others again might need to cut a few weights that might be weighing them down.

Make a list of all the adversities that you were faced with that you can recall. Then explain what lessons you learnt from these experiences.

There is a saying that ignorance is bliss. This might be true for some, but it is as far as I am concerned the root cause of most of our suffering, pain and anxiety. Accepting life, people, religion, politics, perceptions, choices, rules and laws at face value imprisoned the mind of mankind. Looking at anything in life from a single perspective is the lazy way out. Seeing and experiencing from a limited range of perspectives have shackled man almost since its inception. Primitive man could not read, write or decipher the range of threats that confronted them and were forced to turn to priests and other individuals for guidance. This disposition provided a wonderful opportunity for those that claimed that they understood to take over control of their followers minds. The initial flimsy net that these opportunists wove gradually grew stronger and more sophisticated.

You will later see how this initial ignorance created an ideal vehicle of enslavement for those in control. Mankind have been kept in a state of ignorance since the beginning of time by greedy power hungry individuals, groups and organizations. Primitive methods of pain, pleasure and hope were used to restrain the masses. Man experienced fleeting moments of pleasure while they blindly obeyed the “commands” of these controllers. Thousands of written laws, spiritual and otherwise came into being over the years. Those that remained subdued and subservient were praised and rewarded while anyone that questioned anything faced the intricate range of pain that these controllers could bring to bear on them. They were cruelly tortured in the dark ages when they questioned anything to do with religion or the state.

Mankind became the slaves of the controllers. They were carefully manipulated to let go of a fair percentage of their hard earned income. The state took their pound of flesh while the religious leaders demanded at least ten percent of all income earned as well. The system sucked in mankind to such an extent that only a handful of individuals over the years showed the courage to point out the deadly trap that we find ourselves in up to today. Do you grasp that the slaves of this system not only police the deadly system on behalf of the controllers, but breed their future slaves when they produce children? I can write a fairly substantial book on this subject matter, but believe that you can see what I am addressing in this document.

My plea is that everyone make it his or her business to get rid of the veil of ignorance that is responsible for most of their anxiety, pain and lack. You might have noticed that I post a very wide range of perceptions daily on an endless range of subjects. My motivation is that I want you to look at stuff from many different perspectives. Nothing is as it seems. I will continue to write on the endless range of methods used to keep us ignorant if I get a fairly acceptable responds on this post.

Keeping yourself motivated as you work towards your goal can be challenging. You may find it hard to stay positive. If you find yourself stuck in a rut, there are some tried and true methods to stay pumped up and keep the momentum going. Remember motivation — positive and negative – comes from within. So take a deep breath, relax, and focus on the positive.

Re-evaluate your plan of action, including your timeline. Look at your goal as a whole, and then break it down to “bite-size” pieces. Having a smaller piece of the larger task to work on and complete can create a large sense of accomplishment and rekindle your motivation.

Evaluate your obstacles. What is standing in your way? Think about other obstacles that you’ve already faced and overcome. You can get past these, too.

Reach out to a friend for advice and encouragement. Pray for guidance and strength. Locate a book of inspirational quotes, poems or short stories. Find a movie with a positive, uplifting storyline. Listen to upbeat, toe-tapping music – and play it loud.

Look for a distraction. Work on a hobby to channel your creative side. Many times using the “fun” side of your brain may spark your confidence.

If you do better to regroup in quiet, try going for a walk, or find a quiet place to reflect on your past successes. Another great idea is to envision your current project in its completed form. Imagine how successful you will feel when you can add this venture to your list of accomplishments!

Sometimes just one of these actions will motivate you back to your path, and at within other times it may take a combination. Whatever you do, remember never give up. Try to get back in step with the same motivation and vigor you had at the beginning of your journey.

Patrick George is a popular motivational speaker and author of the books, “The Little Black Book of Leadership Quotes”, “Quotes for the True Leader” and his newest book, “You Can’t Fry Chicken in 8 Minutes but You Can Set Incredible Goals in 8 Steps”. Patrick’s passion for motivating people comes from his years of experience in student activities during his high school and college years. For more than 20 years, Patrick has travelled the United States and Canada motivating thousands of youth and young adults.

Everyday you make a thousand choices. You choose what to wear, where to go, who to meet, what to eat and what to do. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, YOU decide WHAT TO THINK. One thing is sure and that is that your day will not be better than your thoughts. ...................
Just close your eyes for a moment and see if you can visualise this open toolbox and if you can see the hundreds of tools that are neatly placed in this toolbox. Now look if you can see the maker’s name on these tools. The creator of these tools (thoughts and perceptions) is you. You created thousands of thoughts and perceptions (tools) about everything since your childhood. ..................
When confronted with any situation or problem you reach into this toolbox and take out what you think the most appropriate tool would be and then attempt to fix the problem. It is estimated that your mind thinks at least 2,500 thoughts an hour. Every thought that you think is a tool (perception) that you have that you imagine would work best under specific circumstances. This thought process continues day and night and will do so for the rest of your life. .....................................
I am convinced that we think ourselves to a standstill. We never stop playing with these tools in our toolbox and can hardly ever really relax for a while. If we are not faced with a problem or task that needs completion we still continue to take out these tools and mentally rehears and contemplate how we will use them should something that we fear become a reality. ............................
We are forever thinking and scheming and never become still and tranquil inside. Our bodies might seem relaxed, but deep inside our heads this thought process continues churning around. What I am most worried about is that most of the tools that you have in your toolbox are very old and outdated. .......................
Many of the opportunities, problems and obstructions that you face daily cannot be repaired while you are using old and outdated tools. If you take a modern mechanic’s toolbox and you place the toolbox of a mechanic of fifty years ago next to it you will find that there are major discrepancies. When you are confronted with something that needs repair and you do not have the right tool for the task at hand it can be very frustrating. We usually improvise and try using some other tools and hope that it will also get the job done. ........................
When you are faced with a problem you need to select the right tool for the task at hand. If you do not have the tool in your toolbox it can complicate your life. What most people seem to ignore is that it is sometimes better not to reach for your toolbox when faced with a problem. Sometimes you need time to pass or need to leave the problem with its rightful owner. How well you use your tools is usually reflected in the world you see around you. What would you do if you were faced with any or all of the following? .........................
You get a flat tire on your way to an important customer or meeting. You can fall apart, develop a migraine and think that life is against you or you can take out the right tools (patience and reality) and take care of the problem in a relaxed manner. ........................
You have been working on the computer for hours and suddenly lose all your work. You can drop dead with a heart attack; think that God hates you or you can take out the right tool (sanity and reality) and begin over and this time remember to make a backup of your work. ....................
A lover or wife possibly cheated on you. You can go crazy and get an assassin to take out the potential threat to your relationship, think that you are a failure or you can take out the right tool (no fear of loss) and get on with your life. .......................
When you have the right tools in your toolbox it makes life a lot easier. The choices we make are vital in our lives. The more quality choices we make during any given day the higher the probability of success and peace of mind. ................
I suggest that you equip your toolbox with the best tools you can lay your hands on. It is important to upgrade if you discover that one of your tools are outdated or that a more modern version is available. How would you react if your TV packed up and a technician that obviously knows very little about electronics arrived at your house with only a sledgehammer and a few other primitive tools in his toolbox? I am sure that you will send him away and find someone better qualified and equipped for the task. .....................
You might sometimes be like this incompetent and poorly equipped technician indicated above if you do not often update your tools (thoughts) in your toolbox. You can also have all the right tools in your toolbox and never use them because you are afraid that you might make a mistake. ..................
You must remember that happiness and success is always just one thought (tool) away. You should remember when you find it difficult to cope with something that one new tool (thought) could change your life. One fresh thought and one new idea can change your life from pain and suffering to success and peace of mind. ........................
You are today what you were programmed with yesterday. The choices that you make on a moment-to-moment basis decide your fate and future. You can never feel or perform better than the ongoing thoughts and feelings that you allow to occupy your mind! .......................
The mistake we make is that most of us live our lives on a reactive basis. We start and complete our day in a reactive state of being. Something comes to our attention via our five senses or via a thought in our mind. We automatically slip into the “role” that we created for ourselves many moons ago. We act, react and experience the same feelings and emotions that we embedded with our scrip at its inception. We do exactly the same when new stimuli push the previous “drama” off the stage in our minds. We sustain this reactive mode of thinking until we finally go to bed at night. Most of our days are made up of a tapestry of “roles” that we played in our own colorful way. It is important to understand that nothing is going to change until we do something different. We cannot repeat the same old recipes and expect a different outcome. ....................
You can use the “Portable Life Skills Wisdom” book to develop a range of appropriate scripts that you can use when you are faced with a problem or project that need your attention. You will if you apply the scripts in this book find that you no longer run your life on a reactive basis. The new scripts will help you to live your life in the moment. You will become more realistic. You will treat each event on its own merit. How do you do this? ......................
The Process ....................
Read the first message in your book. Write it down if at all possible. It will assist you to absorb the data provided. Now sit back and close your eyes and visualize how you will apply the specific message in the various areas of your life. See yourself on the screen of your mind using the message in all your day-to-day activities. It is important to attempt to feel and experience the benefits that this new mode of thinking will bring into your life. Do this for ten minutes. Then open your eyes and begin to apply the wisdom on all occasions where appropriate in your activities on that given day. ...........................
Proceed to do the same with second message etc. in your book tomorrow. You will upload almost a thousand powerful recipes if you sustain the process indicated above. You can in less than three years upload a powerful “tool” system that will serve you for the rest of your life. This can be a life changing experience if you apply it daily. You will discover that the ten minutes you invest daily will upload countless new strategies into your subconscious computer. Build a successful and happy life. The key however is action. You can have the best tools available to man and still fail if you don’t use them daily. Wishing you the very best with this endeavor. .............................
Daily Support System (This Blog) ................
You not only have the massive key ideas in the book that you can use when appropriate you also receive daily posts on a wide range of subjects that will expand this system to a level never offered before. Visit this blog daily for fresh new ideas with a sprinkle of historical wisdom that stood the test of time. ..........................
Rene